Tojiro Stainless Steel Chinese-Style Cleaver
Every kitchen should have a Chinese-style cleaver, whose tall, heavy-duty blade and forward-heavy balance do most of the work for you when chopping big batches of vegetables and mincing meats or herbs. We found an excellent model from Japanese producer Toryumon that, unlike most flat-bellied cleavers, has a slightly curved edge similar to a European-style chef’s knife, so American home cooks will find it easier to use. Roughly 7 inches long and 3.5 inches tall, the blade is smaller and more approachable than other models and ideal for those with smaller hands.
Hasegawa Wood Core Soft Rubber Cutting Board
This cutting board is not only durable, but it also will prolong the life of your knife blade. The “pull-and-slice” technique is the common way to slice food in Japanese cooking, which can often lead to chipped edges if using a hard cutting board. But this one is coated in layers of soft plastic that provides much better protection for your knives and protection for your fingers, since it’s non-slip. Plus, the material has strong antimicrobial properties—one of the highest standards in Japan—so it won’t hold germs as much as a standard cutting board would between uses. Its wood core keeps the cutting board from warping from use. And since it’s not entirely made of wood, it's much more lightweight to use.
Skeppshult Cast-Iron Spice Mill
The gritty texture of Skeppshult's hand-held grinder makes it easier to coarsely grind spices and is designed so ingredients stay in a concentrated area for efficient crushing. The softly radiused iron base fits the hand well, and the walnut-wood top provides a better grip and looks beautiful. Weighing just over two pounds, it feels great, looks great and is a pleasure to use.
Tân Tân Vietnamese Hoisin Sauce
Too many supermarket hoisin sauces come across as cloying—usually candy-sweet with an occasional aftertaste of unpleasant chemical bitterness. Tan Tan’s version of the classic Chinese fermented soybean condiment, however, yields the perfect balance of sweet, earthy and savory notes with an addictive umami core that adds even more depth. An elegant hint of anise floats in and adds aromatic, nuanced complexity, while garlic grounds the sauce without overwhelming its other flavors. It’s texture is satisfyingly syrupy, not too molasses-thick like some brands, and it’s made with no preservatives from a family recipe—the epitome of an elevated pantry essential.
Little Apple Treats Original Apple Cider Vinegar
Produced from hand-picked apples, not the low-grade and windfall apples most companies use, and aged in oak barrels for two years before bottling, Little Apple Treats cider is bright and sharp, with a bold apple flavor and subtle caramel tones contributed by the barrel aging. This is the best American apple cider vinegar we’ve tasted, every bit on par with the fancy, expensive French stuff from Normandy.
Colonel Pabst All-Malt Amber Lager Worcestershire Sauce
This sauce’s profile is unlike any other we’ve tried. While Worcestershire can typically have a reputation as being tart and tangy, we love how this one leads with sweet and malty notes. It’s brewed in small batches before it’s carefully strained and bottled. And it begins with award-winning Milwaukee amber lager from Lakefront Brewery—mellow, yet rich. Made from a family recipe, it has far more noticeable layers than the typical grocery store variety, but still offers that special flavor boosting quality Worcestershire is known for. Indian tamarind, molasses and Demerara sugar offer a unique sweetness, while madras curry, peppercorn and cinnamon yield a balanced warmth. We especially love the use of tomato paste here, which is relatively uncommon, and the classic umami base that comes from classic anchovy paste and soy.
Angkor Food Lemongrass Paste
Angkor Food's Lemongrass Paste is an all-purpose curry paste made with bright and aromatic lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and galangal, balanced out by earthy garlic, onion and turmeric; fish sauce gives the paste a savory and complex boost.
Benriner Mandoline Slicer
A mandoline vegetable slicer by Japanese company Benriner is standard equipment in most Japanese homes and restaurant kitchens around the world. We prefer this tool’s simplicity, durability and efficacy over other more complicated models. It comes with three interchangeable blades: The fixed straight blade—which is also removable and replaceable, ensuring long-term durability—creates slices ranging from .5 mm to 5 mm. Use the dial on the underside of the mandoline to fine-tune and adjust the thickness of your slices. You can also screw in one of other two blades, which allow you to julienne or finely shred your vegetables. We especially love that the finger guard, which extends across the width of the entire blade, is easy to handle and keeps a firm grip on ingredients while slicing. Additionally, a non-skid base, safety handle and notches in the mandoline will keep the device steady whether you lay it across a bowl or prop it against a countertop.
Bisbell Universal Magnetic Blade Cover
Made from stiff polypropylene and fit with robust magnets, Bisbell’s matte black magnetic knife guards clamp tightly and securely to your blade. The pre-scored cover requires nothing more than stiff shears to cut, meaning you can customize the fit to each of your knives and safely store in your drawer. You’ll never again nick your fingers or chip your knife blades! Plus, they’re easy to clean and great for when you need to bring a knife on the road. Unfortunately, this knife cover does not fit our Kitchin-to or Kitchin-tan knives, however we will have solutions for these knives soon!
Milk Street Pie Pan
Buying the right pie pan is hard—between decorative options that look nice on the table but underperform and utilitarian steel or glass pans that are flimsy and don’t last, options for a solid, beautiful pie pan that will deliver every time are limited. To take the guesswork out of buying the right one, we designed our own. Made of high-quality enameled steel sourced from Türkiye, the home of the world’s best enamelware, it far surpasses glass and stoneware options, which may not conduct heat properly, leading to soggy-bottomed pies. The steel core conducts heat efficiently and evenly, for a browned, perfectly cooked crust every time (so you can finally cook your pies without blind baking them first). Enamelware is one of the original nonstick cookware options, so your pies will slice neatly; no risk of sticking to the pan, and it’s easy to clean. It’s extremely durable—sturdier than many cheap, light options on the market—and it’s resistant to high temperatures up to 450°F.
Turkish Dish Towels — Set of 2
You asked, we delivered—Turkish dish towels without tassels! Turkish textiles are famously absorbent and efficient at drying and these are made from 100% hand-loomed Turkish cotton. Soft and surprisingly lightweight, these dish towels dry remarkably fast after absorbing water and spills. They’re yarn-dyed for true colors that will stay fast, and each towel comes with a loop to hang it with. Available in a set of two.
Milk Street Flavor Jolt
Spending hours to roast a chicken just for it to turn out bland? One-note steamed veggies? Expensive steak that's only good, not great?
There is a simple solution, one that many home cooks around the world already use every day: umami. That deep, savory flavor that leaves you coming back for more, umami is typically the JOLT you need to transform a dish from mediocre into magnificent.
On our travels, we have found that many cultures use a simple flavor-enhancer (MSG, Maggi Seasoning, kombu, shio koji, etc.) everyday to bring out the full flavor of other ingredients. Over the past year, Milk Street has tested and refined those options to come up with Milk Street Flavor Jolt , a combination of umami-rich spices, flavorings and concentrated seasonings—sourced from Europe to India and Japan—combined into a convenient one-stop flavor enhancer that will coax the best out of every meal.
The secret formula turned out to be more complex than we thought: Dried vegetables (tomato and carrots), umami-packed mushroom powder and alliums like garlic and onion make up the base of this mix, contributing a delicate sweetness that underpins the blend. Red miso powder brings a bit of assertive saltiness while earthy turmeric, mustard and paprika warm up the mix. Not to be forgotten, our secret weapons for extra depth: shio koji powder and asafetida. Both known for imparting rich, pleasant funkiness, the two flavorings round out the mixture. We tweaked flavors and salt ratios until we finally developed a seasoning blend that elevates and amplifies the distinct flavor of anything you put it on. Beef is richer, carrots sweeter and brighter.
Dust it over finished dishes for a flavor boost or blend with salt to season vegetables and rub steaks, chops, roasts and whole birds. It's terrific when used on its own and adds extra dimension to curry blends and chili powders.
JIA Inc. Companion Wok
Crafted from carbon steel, our preferred wok cooking material, this pan features a long beech wood handle (which won’t overheat) as well as an ear handle for easy pouring and transport. Although it doesn’t have any sort of chemical coating, the pan’s glossy black interior undergoes a special nitriding process, which produces an iron nitride layer that increases durability and prevents rust. The inside is then polished to a shine and given a fish-scale uneven finish to promote air flow under food, both of which give the pan incredible nonstick properties straight for the box with a quick initial seasoning. So you don’t have to worry as much about building up a layer of seasoning straight away like you would with other carbon steel pans or cast iron.
Plus, its flat bottom ensures it’ll work with any cooking surface and the accompanying lid with an easy-to-grip wood knob makes it ideal for steaming as well.
KariKari Garlic Chili Crisp
We were blown away by this Garlic Chili Crisp from KariKari. We find most chili crisps tend to be mostly oil, but this version is incredibly textured with thin slivers of golden garlic, shallots and peanuts—not surprising since the name KariKari which means crunchy in Japanese. Garlicky and spicy off the bat, followed with a hit of umami and a delightful tingling from Sichuan peppercorn, you can add this crisp to just about any dish for more flavor and complexity. We like it mixed into noodles, rice, veggies and dolloped on top of fried eggs. Or try it spooned over vanilla ice cream for a sweet and spicy treat.
Suncraft Silicone Slim Spatula
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Our very own Matthew Card (our creative director of recipes and products) loves this stylish and functional mini spatula: “This the best tool I've ever used for getting the last little bits out of a jar. It's really perfectly designed to get into every nook and cranny. With its wood core, it's solid enough to use some force, too; many other brands bend, so they aren't really that useful.” It helps cut down on food waste by squeezing into the corners of jars and packages, and its slender shape is great for swiping the sides of blenders and food processors.
Suehiro Ceramic Water Wheel Knife Sharpener for Double Beveled Knife
This easy-to-use sharpener is the perfect introduction for anyone new to knife maintenance. The handheld Suehiro sharpener contains two synthetic whetstones, which are made from ceramic and joined together to form a ‘roller.’ The roller is fitted inside a refillable water tank at the exact angle for sharpening. To use, simply add water to the tank (whetstones work best when wet), grip the handle, and run a knife back and forth through the roller.
The Suehiro is recommended for the occasional full sharpening, rather than daily honing. Steel honing rods are popular among home cooks for their speed and convenience, but what many don’t realize is that they don’t actually provide a long-lasting edge on your blade. This innovative knife sharpener solves that problem, delivering a better edge every time in a convenient hand-held package that does the job in a fraction of the time.
Mount Mansfield Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup
This malty maple syrup is made from Grade A Amber Rich syrup before being aged for two and a half to three months in charred oak bourbon barrels from a small craft distillery in Chicago. Though lighter in color compared to the Grade B, the sweetness of the pure Vermont syrup is balanced beautifully by dark bourbon flavor, which comes through clearly, along with strong whiskey notes that spread across your tongue. The flavor lingers too, leaving behind a touch of leather from the oak barrel and a faint tingle from the whiskey burn.
Suncraft Silicone Spatula
Most spatulas are either too soft or too firm—rendering them useless for doing two tasks at the same time, like mixing dough then flexing to scrape the edge of the bowl—or come in two pieces that become home to grime between uses. Thankfully, Suncraft’s Silicone Spatulas solve both of these problems. The Small Silicone Spatula features both a hard stainless steel core and a flexible soft side, so you can use the same tool for as many jobs as needed. Try it for anything from mixing small amounts of ingredients and melting chocolate to scraping out small jam jars.
The Large model has the same strong, stainless steel spine that creates a hard, squared-off tip, plus the silicone exterior that creates a flexible soft edge, so you can use the same tool for as many jobs as needed. It’s perfect for anything from scraping up the remnants of batter from a bowl cleanly and kneading hard butter.
Exclusive to Milk Street, the stainless steel core of these spatulas undergoes the same hardening process as a knife, making it ultra-durable to avoid bending. Equally as durable is the black silicone material itself, which is made extra firm to stand up to the inner core so it won’t rip through. The square silicone handle also offers complete comfort with just the right amount of softness to help maneuver easily. Heat-resistant up to 428 degrees Fahrenheit, use the spatulas while frying or handling hot sugar, then simply stick them in the dishwasher when you’re done.
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